Showing posts with label steps to plotting a novel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label steps to plotting a novel. Show all posts

14 April 2011

27 Steps to Plotting Your Novel, Memoir, Screenplay Complete

We did it. The Plot Series is complete! 

We're not finished with our YouTube channels. A cool idea for a new plot tips series is floating in my head that pushes off from these first 27 steps and dives deeper -- a new plot series that shows what the first 27 steps tells.

The new segment is still in that fragile place between inspiration and application. Following my own advice of not showing anyone the first draft and another pearl -- don't talk away the energy, I'll leave the new series for now and move on to the real celebration.

The last quarter of the Plot Series deals with the elements needed to create the final quarter of your novel, memoir, screenplay. The end of a story is reflective of everything that comes before in the beginning and the end, which makes holding an understanding of the elements at play in this most critical phase of your story important.

Writers often write the beginning quarter of the story one hundred times while the final quarter of the story is lucky to get a complete rough draft let alone any rewriting or refinement.

Beginnings hook readers. Endings create fans.

Whether you are in the honeymoon stage of writing the beginning of your story, muddled in the middle, or powering your way through to the end, the better your grasp the significance of the end of the universal story both metaphorically and pragmatically the better your ending and overall story.

For tips on keeping the dream of your story lingering in the minds of your readers long after they put down your book, watch Step 27: The Resolution.

Click on green highlighted plot concepts for further explanations via video. Each time a concept is referenced you are directed to new information.

To watch the entire Plot Series: How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay? go to my YouTube channel. A directory of all the steps to the series is to the right of this post. Enjoy!

27 October 2010

Marathon Plot Training for NaNoWriMo

In less than 2 hours, pre-plot the characters and events and ideas you're imagining for your NaNoWriMo writing project.

The more organized your vision, the more productive your daily writing practice is for NaNoWriMo and otherwise.

The following steps take no longer than 5 - 9 minutes each. As simple as clicking the step you want and watching a video:

STEP ONE: Character and Goal (Part 1) -- Dramatic Action Plot

STEP TWO: Character Flaw -- Character Emotional Development Plot

STEP THREE: Setting -- Part 1: (Beginning 1/4) -- Ordinary World

STEP FOUR: Setting -- Part 2: (Middle 1/2) -- Extraordinary, Exotic, Unusual World

STEP FIVE: Three Major Plot Threads -- Character Emotional Development Plot, Dramatic Action Plot, Thematic Significance Plot + Romance Plot

STEP SIX: Secondary and Sub-plots

STEP SEVEN: Climax (Part 1) -- The End

STEP EIGHT: Climax (Part 2) -- The End

STEP NINE: Energy Anatomy of Stories -- Plot at the Overall Story Level

STEP TEN: Plot the Beginning

STEP ELEVEN: Turning Points

STEP TWELVE: Goal (Part 2) The Middle -- Dramatic Action Plot

STEP THIRTEEN: Antagonists for Protagonist and for the Writer

MORE TO COME...

Give yourself the gift of writing next month and show up everyday.